Watching Boxing from the past it seem those fighters skill levels were alot higher than fighters today. What is the reason for this. Why are fighters from today not as good as fighters from the past?
Boxrers back then studied and refined their craft. They fought more often trying to fine tune their skills .Most of them had excellent trainers .Conditioning was so much better ..
More Fighters, More gyms, More Qualified Trainers, More ways to work out the kinks...all led to more Overall quality. And they stayed active and fought a lot. Back then you had Champions and Top Contenders Stacked in gyms training and sparring together. You have that now on some level but not to that same degree. You also have to talk about the amateur system. Many complain about how today's amateur system isn't as good as the Old system which helped prepare fighters to be Pro Fighters...which in return, is making for poor pro style fighters (when we compare them to the Old) Work ethic has also been talked abut by certain old school trainers and fighters but you have mixed opinions if everything they did was right. Some feel they were over-training and even to discipline which can wear a fighter down mentally and physically. I guess it would depend on the results.
You are picking and choosing. Nobody is picking Marciano or Foreman for technique...they didn't even in their own time. But since you brought up Joe Louis....his prime years were in his 30's and his precision punching is one of the best ever even in today's world. How many 200+ pounds can punch as sharp, accurate, and in combinations like him? Wlad is the sharpest of the group and Wlad doesn't have the variety of punches Joe has. Joe's combination punching was brilliant. I think Wlad has the capability but he doesn't use it. Lennox Jab is overrated. Wlad's however isn't. But both overall are good. Floyd? Watch George Benton and many others. You think he couldn't fight today? [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwYnF8SWNjs[/ame] Also remember who this man trained. Manny? Poor Jab. Throws himself off balance. Gets confused when facing a smart fighter. Can be wild at times. But his athletic/physical ability is incredible. But your born with that and learn to perfect that. You don't get as much credit for that as you do learning technique that will allow you to remain on a high level even after your physical gifts are gone. Especially the Chess game. Floyd has this. So even today's fighters have their negatives like any other time. But yes, I do think some things have improved...especially when people go way back and swear so and so was good when video doesn't lie. Some looked like drunk women :-( Overall, we can pick and choose different fighters and their qualities from different eras and see whats up. I mixed about the whole thing. ___
The bottom line is it was more competitive. There were far more fighters fighting for far less titles, and for many, if they didn't win, they didn't eat the next day.
Boxers of today are very aware about future medical problems they might suffer. Can that be one of the reason, perhaps? The boxers of yesterday sacrificed themselfes for the craft in a way few modern boxers would do.
I love watching everyone from the 1900s. Such a treat the internet is. Here is a fantastic vid on the great lightweight era from the 50's, go to 5:48 minutes for the triple hook combo, it's gorgeous: [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBIs09wpbIw[/ame]
"Such a treat the internet is." what r u gay? i love watching that **** too. srr was incredible. he loved to fight.
Skillwise, I'd favor today's generation as boxing evolves and so are the boxers. Having said that, it's just right that we give credits to those previous generations of boxers as the present ones in some way or another had/will always learn from them. On the other hand, when it comes to GUTS and HEART, I'd somehow favor the early decade fighters. boxing with fractured one arm / Fighting, while (believed) blind on one eye / grueling 15 round fights / Referees not stopping the fights prematurely--Things like these are just memories of the past now..
